Grimalkin Records is a local, LGBTQ-focused music label that gives equal voice to all of its members, while giving particular focus to LGBTQ individuals. For co-founder Nancy Kells, the LGBTQ community was a main reason to start the label. “We’re trying to give a voice to people,” said Kells.

The label began right after the demoralizing 2016 election. It had another name at the time: Friends For Equality. Their initial hope was to offer financial support to causes they believe in. “We organized a compilation with the donations going to Southern Poverty Law Center, Equality VA, and others,” said Kells.

The idea to start a record label was inspired by a friend who was running a label of his own. “I wanted to make a label that was more of a collective, and more focused on supporting community,” Kells said. “I started reaching out to friends. People slowly wanted to help out and liked the idea.” The decision to adopt the Grimalkin name, an archaic term for cats that is often used in reference to witches’ familiars, was a natural evolution of the label’s growth.

Getting friends involved made the entire process easier, and has helped both in supporting artists and accomplishing their goals as a label. Indeed, it’s a core aspect of the way Grimalkin does business — when it came time for our interview, eight different members of the label sat down as a group to talk to me. “Being an artist, any kind of artist, is daunting, and it can be kind of isolating,” said Sarmistha Talukdar, another Grimalkin partner, who makes music under the name Tavishi. “It’s cool to have such a close-knit group of people and friends who can put out music all together.”

When comparing Grimalkin Records to other labels around the state, it’s obvious that they have something special going on. “We’re more of a collective record label and it’s not for profit,” said Talukdar. “I don’t think there are a lot of labels out there that are run by women, or queer people, or anyone that aren’t cis white dudes.”

Talukdar also mentioned that most label owners are trying to make a profit on their work. “Personally, I don’t find that appealing at all,” Talukdar said. “Our money goes back into the artist, or creating music. [We want to] hire people and pay them for their art, pay them for their music, and for a release show.”

For those involved with Grimalkin, giving respectful support and amplifying the voices of LGBTQ artists is not just a cool thing to do, but something they see as a necessity, both in their own lives and those of other members of the community. “No one is actively and genuinely trying to empower the LGBT community and actively seek them out,” said musician and fellow Grimalkin member Berko Lover. “Not as commodity or something in vogue, but as an actual necessity. A voice needed to be heard, embraced, and experienced, because of our lives’ experiences.”

“We also actively try to do fundraising events for other organizations and focus on the most marginalized people in the community,” Talukdar added. “We focus on grassroots events, trans people of color especially. These people do direct work, and they do not get as much funding.”

When organizing fundraisers, Talukdar said, “We try to organize in a way where we get the most out of it. A lot of the venues take a significant amount of money, usually about 30 percent [of admission prices]. It’s almost counterproductive to do a fundraiser at a big venue.” Grimalkin’s most recent fundraiser was for Nationz Foundation, a local non-profit whose mission is to “work towards a more inclusive Central Virginia for LGBTQIA+ identified individuals.”

In addition to fundraising for advocacy groups they support, Grimalkin is also looking for new ways to support the music scene they come from. One current goal of theirs is to raise sufficient funds that they can buy a PA system, which they can then loan to local artists who can’t afford one of their own, and thereby allow more artists the ability to organize shows in DIY spaces.

Keeping costs down is another way that Grimalkin is able to pump the maximum amount of support back into the community. One way in which they do this is by releasing music on cassette tapes, rather than more expensive vinyl production. “You can make them fairly cheaply,” said Kells. Elizabeth Owens, whose Coming Of Age was the first single-artist release on the label, agreed. “They’re even cheaper than CDs,” they said. “That way, we can give a greater distribution to the art itself.”

“And there really is a resurgence of [cassettes],” Kells added. “A lot of people are really into collecting them. I think it’s kind of cool — I have a cassette collection.”

Since adopting the Grimalkin name, the label has put out several releases, all on cassette. In addition to the Elizabeth Owens album, the proceeds from which went to benefit the Virginia Anti-Violence Project, they’ve also released a live EP for Talukdar’s improvisational collective femme group, Womajich Dialysiez — the proceeds of which went to benefit the quest to obtain a PA — and a cassette version of Madison Turner’s recently released CD, A Comprehensive Guide To Burning Out. The cassette version includes some bonus live acoustic material, and proceeds go to benefit Health Brigade.

Grimalkin is trying to do positive things for the community, but they realize that they have a responsibility to the community they hope to support. “We’re open to learning and growing,” Kells said. “We’re open to criticism. We’re open to feedback. We’re open to collaborating.”

Grimalkin have releases coming in the future from local artists including Spartan Jet-Plex, Aesthetic Barrier, Tavishi, Grandma, Berko Lover, Kate Can Wait, and more. They impose no limits on the genres of music they’ll release, and they’re always looking for more people to support. You can find them online at Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and Facebook, and if you want to support their efforts, you can always donate to their Patreon.

Photo: Elizabeth Owens at Grimalkin’s release show for Coming Of Age/courtesy Grimalkin Records

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